justice which will not spare the transgressor; the holy apostle does not assume the severe tone of command, or the more appalling language of denunciation; he exhibits the mercies of God as the motive to present ourselves a sacrifice to him, and he therefore uses the mild language of persuasion, as more congenial with the theme on which he intends to dwell.

"I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God." By the mercies of God, your Creator, who raised, from an inert and shapeless mass, those bodies which now erect look towards heaven, and breathed into them the breath of life; who endowed your souls with those spiritual and immortal powers which distinguish you from the brutes that perish, and which constitute your perfection, dignity, and happiness by the mercies of him in whom you live, and move, and have your being, I beseech you, present yourselves a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto him.

By the mercies of God, your Benefactor and Preserver, who continually sustains you, who protects you in danger, succours you in misfortune, and crowns you with the rich blessings of life-by the mercies of him who giveth you richly all things to enjoy, I beseech you, present yourselves a sacrifice unto him.

By the mercies of God, your Redeemer, who hath revealed to you, in the Gospel of his Son, his eternal Being and perfections, every truth connected with your duty and your happiness; who spared when we deserved punishment, and in his wrath remembered mercy; who, in your lost estate, laid help on one that is mighty, and by his eternal Son wrought your deliverance from condemnation and

death-by the mercies of him who is the sure and everlasting refuge of the penitent, the Author of life and glory to all who believe in him, I beseech you, present yourselves a sacrifice to him.

You are not called, brethren, to an unreasonable duty, to a severe and degrading service; for it is the honourable, the dignified service of him who is the source of goodness as well as of power, and who is infinitely exalted above the most perfect of the creatures he has made. The service of that beneficent God in whom is the fulness of felicity, must be pruductive of the highest pleasures which our nature can receive or enjoy it confers here, a peace which passeth understanding-and it conducts us hereafter, to those immortal glories which eye hath not seen, which ear hath not heard, and of which the heart of man cannot conceive. If we neglect a service thus honourable and exalted, thus rich in present peace and in immortal felicity, and wilfully refuse to engage in it, though urged by the mercies of our Maker and Preserver, our Redeemer and God, what can we look for but that indignation which Jehovah hath denounced against his adversaries? Even that mercy which we have insulted and spurned will pour upon us the vials of wrath. And when mercy, that so long pleaded for our pardon, is roused to vengeance, who can stand?

The mercies, brethren, of God, our Creator, our Preserver, our everlasting Redeemer, now invite

us.

Bound to him by infinite obligations, as our "reasonable service," to him let us devote ourselves "a living sacrifice." Through thy grace, O God, may it be a "holy" sacrifice, and through thy mercy in Jesus Christ thy Son, an "acceptable" one unto thee.

SERMON XXXVI.

THE PATH OF THE JUST.

PROVERBS iv. 18.

The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

THOUGH feeble and faint the first dawn of light which glimmers through the midst of darkness and announces the approach of the glorious luminary of the heavens, it shineth more and more until it bursts forth in the full splendour of perfect day.

Behold, brethren, the comparison by which the text denotes the life of the just man. Faint and feeble the beginnings of his spiritual life; but it increases in strength and splendour, it shines more and more with the Christian graces, until, in the final state of bliss, every cloud which in this imperfect life shaded it being dispelled, it steadily sends forth the eternal lustre of celestial glory.

The life of the righteous should be progressive in goodness. Daily advancing in all holy virtues and graces, his love to his God, his trust in his Saviour, his pious and devout affections should constantly become more sincere and strong, and his active sympathy and benevolence should burn with a brighter and brighter flame. The great work of crucifying the flesh with its corrupt affections, and of overcoming the world, its sinful temptations and pleasures, should be unceasingly pur

sued. Thus all the divine, social, and personal virtues would be displayed in his life and conversation, with increasing brightness. "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

The service, then, to which Christians are called, is not an inactive service; it demands more than feeble, occasional, relaxed exertions; it is not satisfied with present attainments, nor does it permit us to be stationary in our course; enjoining persevering, increasing efforts, it calls continually for brighter displays of those pious, humble, holy, and benevolent virtues which shed around their possessor a resplendent and attractive lustre, and prepare him for shining with immortal glory in the courts of the celestial Zion.

The duty of advancing in the holy graces and virtues of the Christian service is demanded by the nature of the service itself; it is enforced by the command of God; it is urged by the dictates of gratitude and interest.

The duty of advancing in all the graces and virtues of the Christian life is demanded by the nature of the service.

This service consists in a constant warfare with all the sinful passions and temptations of our fallen nature; requiring the old man, which is corrupt after the flesh, to be put off, and the new man to be put on, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. The flesh, with its affections and lusts, is to be crucified, and we are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to be fruitful in every good work.

The Christian service setting before us this high standard, admits of no relaxation of effort. The

holiness at which we are to aim is so pure and exalted, that our advances to it must necessarily be gradual and progressive; and no man will be entirely freed from the dominion of sin, and completely established in purity and virtue, until the period when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and mortality be swallowed up of life.

Consider then, Christians, bow numerous and exalted the graces which should adorn your character-how sincere and ardent should be your love and gratitude towards your God and Saviour -how profound your humility, your submission, and your penitence-how active your benevolence, how lively your sympathy and your compassionhow unaffected your meekness, your forbearance, your gentleness, and kindness-how inflexible your integrity, fidelity, and justice-how uniform and rigid your sobriety, your temperance, your government of your passions-how complete your superiority to the sinful and transitory pleasures of the world-how fervent your desires after the perfection and bliss of heaven!-consider these numerous virtues and graces, which you are not merely to possess, but in which you are to excel, and surely you will not pretend that you have already attained, and that you have no further advances to make in the Christian course. The view of the exalted nature of the Christian service, humbling all our aspiring pretensions, will impress on us the truth, that, however great our pious attainments, however bright our graces and virtues, they are still far below the standard at which we are required to aim, are still faint and feeble in their lustre, and that they must shine more and more unto the perfect day.